| February 4, 2009
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Inauguration, Interfaith, Israel, Intrigue and Islam
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Judges 2:7-14
The people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who survived Joshua, who had seen all the great work of the LORD which He had done for Israel. ... All that generation also were gathered to their fathers; and there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD, nor yet the work which He had done for Israel. Then the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals, and they forsook the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed themselves down to them; thus they provoked the LORD to anger. So they forsook the LORD and served Baal and the Ashtaroth. The anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He gave them into the hands of plunderers who plundered them; and He sold them into the hands of their enemies around them, so that they could no longer stand before their enemies. | |
Titus 1:16
They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed.
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Isaiah 31:1
Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help
And rely on horses,
And trust in chariots because they are many
And in horsemen because they are very strong,
But they do not look to the Holy One of Israel, nor seek the LORD !
Matthew 24:7a
"For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom
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1 John 2:18-19
Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us.
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Genesis 12:3
And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse.
And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed."
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| Shalom in Christ Jesus, |
They are called the 'Joshua
Generation' and the article is called 'Faith Beyond His Father's' and both are
misnomers. The 'Joshua Generation'
represented in this article below is more akin to the post-Joshua generation
that did not know the Lord and therefore began to follow the Baal's. That is
true of much of the new generation of 'Evangelicals' that are evangelical in
name only and have joined the Emergent Church, or left the church all together.
These are the ones targeted by Barack Obama during the campaign and it paid
off with many votes from this group. There are a number of articles concerning these
phenomena below.
Some of the other issues
that effected the election are all occurrences The Word of God warns us of increasing
in the last days. Many voted for Obama for the reason of the economy, plainly
mammon is of the highest importance to most Americans including the so-called
church. Ethnic divisions also played a huge role giving just one more example
of Christ's warning of ethnic tensions and divisions in Matthew 24:7, Mark 13:8
and Luke 21:10.
For whatever reason I just
generally always think the worst when it comes to this fallen wretched world
and especially anything to do with politics. I am also highly suspicious and do
not trust any politicians and so that is why when I read that President Barack
Obama re-took the Oath of Office because both he and the Chief Supreme Court
Justice John G. Roberts Jr. flubbed it up terribly the first time, and this time
did not use a Bible because he supposedly could not find one I immediately
thought 'how convenient'. I really
could not tell you what Barack Obama believes but I know one thing for sure, he
is not a Bible believing follower of The Lord Jesus Christ. That is just evident
by what he has shown to be believe by his own statements and legislation that
is very much anti-Christian.
This alert also looks at
some of that anti-Christian and anti-Israeli policy and the messianic cult of
personality surrounding Barack Obama that should make every believer take pause
including the first article concerning an artist that has Obama riding a donkey
in Des Moines, Iowa a la Christ's triumphal entry on Palm Sunday (when
the Jews tried to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles at Passover). It is
questionable whether the artist is mocking or joining in this cult of
personality, and when looking at some of his other work, it looks as though it
could be mocking. However, just the fact that this artistic interpretation is
legitimately understandable (that so many people have been in fact "worshiping"
Obama) shows the level of deception that has overtaken so many people.
May the Lord bless you and
keep you,
BE/\LERT!
Scott
Brisk
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Obama's triumphal entry: gentle, riding on donkey
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Artist creates messianic parade as 'adorers' wave palm fronds
WORLDNETDAILY - By Drew Zahn - January 24, 2009
DES MOINES, Iowa - Amid the pomp, circumstance and celebration of welcoming a new president, an artist in Iowa created an inaugural parade sure to draw attention, even hundreds of miles from Washington, D.C.: Barack Obama, riding on a donkey, complete with waving palm fronds and "Secret Service" escort.
As WND reported, Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan declared in October that when Obama talks, "the Messiah is absolutely speaking." But artist Matthew J. Clark's parade - marching Obama through the streets of Des Moines in similar fashion to Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem - takes the messianic imagery even farther.
The Bible describes Jesus' procession into Jerusalem in the 21st chapter of Matthew as the fulfillment of the prophet Zechariah's words, "Behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass," or as the New International Version paraphrases, "gentle, and riding on a donkey." As the celebrated Messiah entered the city, the Bible also tells of adorers spreading their cloaks at Jesus' feet and waving palm fronds.
Charlotte Eby, columnist for Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, witnessed a strange sight earlier this week, as a sculpture of Obama marched down Des Moines' Locust Street in similar fashion.
"Progressing slowly down Locust and holding up traffic was a rubbery Barack Obama sculpture saddled on the back of a donkey," Eby writes. "A pair of black SUVs led the procession and two more trailed behind, Secret Service-style. A couple of the SUVs were decked out with tiny American flags."
Eby continues, "A few men led the Donkey down the street and a woman made her way along the sidewalk, keeping up with the procession and handing out palm branches to the few perplexed onlookers who had gathered on the sidewalks to see what the fuss was about."
Clark called the marching artwork "A Simulacrum of Hope: Simulation of the Triumphal Entry of the Christ."
The American Heritage Dictionary defines the word "simulacrum" as "an image or representation; or an unreal or vague semblance," leaving the viewer to interpret whether Clark considers the parade a celebration of Obama or a mockery of Obama's more adoring supporters.
Clark's website describes the sculpture in equally vague terms.
"This project was inspired by my thoughts about 'icons' and religious symbols and whether they represent truth or merely represent," the website reads. "The sculpture poses a question that relates to social conventions, metaphysics, and the collective response of society in reaction to fearful and uncertain times, but doesn't impose an answer. For me, it has much more to do with the general public as followers than any leader granted power."
According to a bio on his website, Clark is "a contemporary visual artist whose primary medium is sculpture. His projects are concept driven and primarily concerned with highlighting contradictions between ideas and their outworking in our current culture."
The website also reports that since the parade has ended, the sculpture will be retired to sit upon a taxidermist-mounted donkey.
Original Report
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Live Teaching Engagements
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| CNN likens inauguration to 'hajj' |
Crowd cited, 'That is the initial definition of a pilgrimage, show up'
WORLDNETDAILY - By Bob Unruh - January 24, 2009
A special CNN report has likened attendance at President Obama's inauguration to participation in the hajj, the pilgrimage to Islam's holy city Mecca that Muslims are required to make at least once.
The report is on video and embedded here
The CNN report was criticized by the FreedomsLighthouse.com blog.
"Just when you think you have heard everything from the liberal media, they best their own record for ludicrous reporting," said the website report about the CNN video. "Here is a CNN report that actually compares the upcoming presidential inauguration to the Muslim hajj pilgrimage to Mecca! I kid you not!"
The commentary continued: "The report never mentions Obama by name, but we did not see any comparisons between President Bush's inauguration and the hajj to Mecca. For the mainstream media, who take such pride in helping to get Barack Obama elected with their incredibly biased reporting, perhaps the inauguration of Barack Obama is a religious event, as they put their faith in the Messianic Obama they helped to create."
The report by CNN's Zain Verjee suggested an inauguration trip "is similar to another grand event, in both size and preparations, the hajj, the most important religious pilgrimage in the Muslim world."
WND earlier reported on Obama's outreach to Muslims during the inauguration.
In his inaugural speech, Obama echoed his previous declaration that the U.S. is "no longer a Christian nation," declaring America is a nation of many faiths that includes Muslims and "nonbelievers."
"For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus - and nonbelievers," Obama stated before a crowd estimated by security officials at more than a million. ...
The CNN report included Michael Wolfe, the author of "1001 roads to Mecca," who said attendance is significant for any religious pilgrimage. ...
Read Full Report |
| Obama Sworn In Again, With Right Words, No Bible |
THE WASHINGTON POST [Wash Post Group/Graham] - By Michael D. Shear - January 22, 2009
In golf, they call it a mulligan. A do-over.
There's no formal name for what President Obama and Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. did last night.
After flubbing his one role on Inauguration Day -- administering the oath of office to Obama -- Roberts traveled to the White House to re-administer the oath.
Just to make sure.
"We decided it was so much fun . . .," Obama joked while sitting on a couch in the Map Room. Obama stood and walked over to make small talk with pool reporters as Roberts donned his black robe.
"Are you ready to take the oath?" Roberts asked.
"I am, and we're going to do it very slowly," Obama replied.
After a flawless recitation that included no Bible and took 25 seconds, Roberts smiled and said, "Congratulations, again."
Obama said, "Thank you, sir," and then added: "All right. The bad news for the [reporters] is there's 12 more balls."
A president is required by the Constitution to say, "I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of president of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
At the inauguration, Roberts instead said: "that I will execute the office of president to the United States faithfully."
In a statement, White House counsel Greg Craig said the oath was re-administered "out of an abundance of caution."
"We believe that the oath of office was administered effectively and that the President was sworn in appropriately yesterday. But the oath appears in the Constitution itself," Craig's statement said.
Two presidents -- Calvin Coolidge and Chester A. Arthur -- have retaken the oath because of unusual circumstances the first time around. ...
Read Full Report
* Emphasis Added Also:Obama retakes oath of officeBarack Obama has retaken the oath of office that was administered by U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts at the ceremonial inauguration yesterday. Legal experts had suggested the move because of the multiple stumbles and flubs at the original event. See Video of Original Flub Up HereWORLDNETDAILY |
| Evangelical Alliance to send new Bible to Obama |
CHRISTIAN TODAY - By Jenna Lyle - January 23, 2009
The Evangelical Alliance is to send a new Bible to US President Barack Obama after White House staff were reportedly unable to find one for his second swearing in.
Dr Krish Kandiah, Director of Churches in Mission for the Evangelical Alliance, said he will send a copy of Bible Society's Poverty and Justice Bible to Obama to make sure he always has a Bible to hand in the future.
"President Obama's commitment to the scripture was obvious during his inaugural address, when he quoted Paul's letter to the Corinthians - so when we heard he didn't swear on a Bible the second time, we could only assume it was because he couldn't find one," said Dr Kandiah.
Mr Obama took the oath of office to be US President for a second time on Wednesday after stumbling over his lines during his official inauguration on Tuesday. He took the oath again "out of an abundance of caution" to put to bed any suggestions by conspiracy theorists that he was not technically president, only this time the ceremony was carried out without the presence of a Bible.
"We are sending him a copy of the Bible in case he is ever biblically caught short again," said Dr Kandiah. "We are delighted that President Obama takes justice and the alleviation of poverty very seriously, so we will send him a Bible that focuses on these issues that are so close to his, and God's, heart." ...
Read Full Report
Also:
President's meeting with judges questioned
WORLDNETDAILY - January 23, 2009
... According to a CBS report, Obama visited the Supreme Court before his inauguration at the invitation of Chief Justice John Roberts. The report described it as a protocol visit.
According to a separate published report, Obama and then-Vice President-elect Joe Biden met in a court conference room with Roberts and seven other justices for about 45 minutes.
The report said the only absent justice was Samuel Alito. ...
Read Full Report
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| Follow-up to Rick Warren's invocation prayer |
 SALT SHAKERS E-NEWS - Barack Obama's Inauguration #3 a - 'Isa and Jesus - January 29, 2009
Regarding the use of the name 'Isa by Rick Warren in his list of names for Jesus, Dr Mark Durie has confirmed that Christian Arabs use the name Yesua - not 'Isa - for Jesus. Daniel Scot says the name is Yesua or can also be Yasu (as noted in a critique below). Meanwhile some net comments say that Arab believers do use the name 'Isa. [See the article by Peter Kirk below.]
As I set out to clarify this issue, it became increasingly complicated - thus I'm giving several articles and counter articles here...
Either way, 'Isa is NOT the 'Arabic word' for Jesus.
The name 'Isa is only used by the Qur'an and Muslims to represent their prophet who we know as Jesus. However it is not the same Jesus of the Bible - Muslims deny that 'Isa is the Son of God and that he was crucified or rose from the dead. Although others may say it is the same person but does not give the truth about him...
Daniel Scot notes that the word 'Isa was used by Jews in Medina - believed to be a form of 'Esau' - and later was used by Mohammed in the Qur'an.
Mark Durie has written an excellent article on this matter, called 'Isa, the Muslim Jesus.
The article is posted on Answering Islam. Click here.
A Christian commentator on the use of the word 'Isa
Daniel Cordell of Love for the truth wrote specifically about the use of the name 'Isa in the Invocation prayer and that Arab Christians use the name Yesua. He has written three posts on his blog
- the first discusses the use of the word 'Isa and highlights that the Arabic word is Yesua.
- the second highlights how he approached Saddleback for an explanation and was told it would be addressed in the following Sunday's sermon.
- the third is a video extract of the sermon, where Rick Warren maintains 'Isa is the Arabic form of Jesus.
Another writer, Peter Kirk, then criticised Daniel Cordell - saying that it really is Yasu not Yesua. He then goes on to say that the 'Isa in the Qur'an is really the same Jesus although he acknowledges they got some things wrong about Him!
First are Daniel Cordell's three posts, then the one by Peter Kirk.
Finally one form another blog which has an interesting assessment of Peter Kirk's commentary.
You might not want to read all this, but for the record I have collated it for you!
Praying in the Name of Isa
Daniel Cordell, www.loveforthetruth.com - January 20th, 2009
"Today, in his Presidential Inauguration prayer, Rick Warren prayed in the name of "Yeshua", "Isa" and "Jesus".
It seems, the three names Warren used were to imply the three "Abrahamic Faiths" (as they are so-called), Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
What's significant is the name "Isa" being prayed by the "evangelical" Warren . Isa is strictly Koranic and used by Arab Muslims. Even Arab Christians don't refer to Isa, but to Yesua. I've lived and studied Arabic in one of the same Muslim countries that Warren has visited, and I think he probably knows that the Arab Christian communities only refer to Jesus as "Yesua" and not "Isa" as the Muslims.
Isa was not Jewish, but Palestinian. Isa did not die on the cross but instead had someone die in his place. Isa is a Muslim prophet. Isa is only found in the Koran. The name Isa doesn't have any Biblical support or any meaning found in Biblical scholarship. Yet, Rick prayed in the name of Isa."
Read - Transcript of Rick Warren's prayer
Watch - Video of Rick Warren's prayer
Learn - Detailed explanation of 'Isa'
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| Obama prayer leader from group US linked to Hamas |
 ASSOCIATED PRESS - January 17, 2009WASHINGTON: A Muslim scholar chosen to speak at President-elect Barack Obama's inaugural prayer service Wednesday is the leader of a group that federal prosecutors say has ties to terrorists. Ingrid Mattson, president of the Islamic Society of North America, is one of many religious leaders scheduled to speak at the prayer service at Washington's National Cathedral. Mattson has been the guest of honor at State Department dinners and has met with senior Pentagon officials during the Bush administration. She also spoke at a prayer service at the Democratic National Convention in Denver. But in 2007 and as recently as last July, federal prosecutors in Dallas filed court documents linking the Hartford, Conn.-based Islamic society to the group Hamas, which the U.S. considers a terrorist organization. Neither Mattson nor her organization have been charged. But prosecutors wrote in July that they had "a wide array of testimonial and documentary evidence expressly linking" the group to Hamas and other radical groups. ... Read Full Report |
Faith Beyond His Father's
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NEWSWEEK [Wash Post Group/Graham] - By Tony Dokoupil and Lisa Miller - From the magazine issue dated January 26, 2009
V.Doug Paul was born in July 1981 in Richmond, Va.-demographics that make his birth, in a sense, historic. He was born, six months after Ronald Reagan's inauguration, to conservative Christian parents who knew for the first time the thrill of voting for a candidate who represented their values, Christian values. Graduates of Oral Roberts University, Gregg and Glenda Paul had thrown themselves into the Reagan campaign, canvassing and making calls. "I liked the direction he was going. I liked his ability to communicate," remembers Gregg. "I liked that he was very much pro-life, less government." When Reagan won, the Pauls felt they had contributed to his landslide.
In Doug's childhood home, a prayer was said over every meal. The family went to church so frequently that Doug imagined it was never closed. He didn't knowingly hear a secular pop song until he was in the ninth grade: he thought Michael Jackson was a Christian singer. His life and values were shaped by what his parents and pastors taught him about the Bible: Scripture was the divine word of God and clearly sorted righteous acts from sinful ones. Doug grew up not just believing, but knowing that abortion and homosexuality were wrong. It went without saying: when he grew up, he would vote Republican.
In 2008, another historic wave swept the country, and this time Doug Paul was no longer a child. He voted-against his parents, against his pastors, against his history-for Barack Obama. More wrenching, he left the church in which he was born, baptized and married to start his own congregation. His mother, especially, remains bewildered by his choices. "My big question," she says, sitting on a landing in her suburban house, "is why do you think this way?" ...
So much has been written about the Joshua Generation, the young white evangelical Christians who pundits predicted would usher Obama into office in overwhelming numbers. Following such high-profile do-gooders as Rick Warren and Bono, moved to action by global poverty and environmental decay, these Christians were supposed to turn away from their parents' obsession with abortion and gay marriage and pull the lever for Obama. The truth, as always, is a lot more complicated. Young Christians liked Obama much better than Kerry: a third of white evangelicals ages 18 to 29 voted Democratic this time, compared with 16 percent in 2004. Still, a third is hardly a majority. And their grandparents liked Obama less: a quarter voted for him, compared with a third for Kerry. On the whole, Christians shifted negligibly to the left: 24 percent of them voted Democratic, compared to 21 percent in 2004. Exit-poll data then demonstrate not a political sea change among evangelicals-who remain more socially conservative than most other religious groups, especially on abortion- but painful generational divisions within their ranks. Disagreements revolve around priorities: how best to express Christian values in a fast-changing world.
Obama fought more aggressively than John McCain for every centrist vote-especially in contested states like Virginia-and in the end succeeded in capturing enough of the Joshua Generation to make his win decisive. But behind each evangelical vote is a story like Paul's: a young person, wrestling with culture and conscience, hoping in the end that hope will prevail, aware that friends and relatives will see the choice as a betrayal. The gravity of Paul's choices, he says, "has caused some pain for me, but a lot of redemption as well. It was a breaking from what I had always known, a moving into unfamiliar territory."
Doug Paul struck out into unfamiliar territory during high school, after he read Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness." The fatalism of that novella, its hopelessness about human redemption, made Paul question the value of Christian worship. With such doubts in his mind, he went on to Wheaton College in Illinois, the alma mater of the evangelist Billy Graham. There he met other Christians like him-questioning, politically engaged news junkies who confessed to each other that they were confused about God. "I basically became a functioning atheist," Paul says. "I hit reset, bulldozed my childhood education and started new." (Located in DuPage County, Wheaton exemplifies the kind of community that flipped for Obama. In 2004, Bush won DuPage by nearly 40,000 votes; in 2008, Obama won by 50,000.) In 2003, Paul was forced to leave Wheaton in disgrace. He had cheated his boss, for whom he worked summers selling books door-to-door, out of thousands of dollars by lying about his sales figures. (He eventually repaid his debt.) Infuriated, his parents yanked his tuition and allowed him to come back home on the condition that he return to church.
Southside Nazarene is not the most inviting of structures: it resembles a sports complex more than a place for intimate communion. But its senior pastor, Jerome Hancock, welcomed Paul home, invited him back to church and guided him on the path to ministry. In 2004, Paul founded a study group for 20-somethings. The next year he started a ministry called Ephesus, which offered a perspective Paul felt was lacking at Southside: a broader reading of the Bible and a practical discussion of social-justice issues including poverty and human rights. "We weren't talking about abortion every week," says Paul.
For Paul, as for so many evangelicals of his generation, the issue of gay rights drove a wedge in the already-widening gap between his elders and himself. According to the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, 26 percent of white evangelicals ages 18 to 29 support gay marriage, compared with 9 percent of white evangelicals older than 30. In 2006, as Virginia was preparing to vote on an amendment banning gay marriage, Southside Nazarene posted a sign near the road urging people to vote yes. SAVE OUR FAMILIES was emblazoned on the banner. Doug Paul remembers a particular Friday-night dinner with his parents that ended in silent fuming. He and his new wife, Elizabeth, were expecting a houseguest that weekend who was gay, and he expressed irritation that their church would propagate the idea that gay people preyed on children.
"I'm pretty sure I just burst out during the meal," he remembers. "I was like, 'Does this really make people feel welcome? Would we put up a sign that says SAVE US FROM ANGRY PEOPLE, or whatever other people we say have sinned?' " The table fell silent. "You could hear the clink of ice cubes in our glasses," he says. His parents say they don't remember the incident.
Paul credits Obama's campaign slogan-"Be the change you seek"-with helping him realize his dream of starting his own congregation. He prayed on the decision for months, going weekly to the driving range to think. He found the theology at Southside too punitive, its social outreach too limited. He and his peers were still pro-life, he explains, but tired of the narrow lens through which his pastors viewed the world. (On abortion, according to the same Pew study, under-29s remain as conservative as their parents: more than 70 percent believe it should be illegal in most or all cases.) Paul prayed for a "return to the Christian tradition that existed before Roe v. Wade," he said. "It's because I'm pro-life that I have to talk about poverty, clean water, AIDS, the environment. [It would be] paradoxical to talk about giving a voice to the oppressed and not to care about people who are actually born." In February he told his mentor, Pastor Jerome, that he would be leaving the church. In March he started Eikon Community, taking a dozen former Ephesus members with him. Today, he preaches to about 40 people each Sunday in a one-room church on a busy strip.
One of these is D.J. Glisson, a 27-year-old graphic designer who signed his absentee ballot for Obama in the presence of his 10-member prayer group. Unlike Doug Paul, who voted for Kerry in 2004, Glisson had never voted for a Democrat before. Raised in a conservative suburb of Richmond, Glisson went to a Christian college and voted for George W. Bush-twice. But Obama's speech on race resonated with Glisson's own view that there are many paths to God, and Obama's position on abortion-legal but infrequent-made moral sense. As he signed his ballot he thought, Wow, things have changed a little bit. He now avoids politics as a survival tactic at family functions. "If it's not going to open minds," he says, "I'm not going to bother."
Pastor Jerome and Doug Paul haven't spoken since Paul announced his departure-though both insist the silence is unintentional. Jerome expresses dismay that the Eikon congregation has moved so far from his church's fundamental teachings, that many drink alcohol, for example, and are willing to vote for a pro-choice candidate. "My faith in God creates a certain logical base," he says. "Does killing a baby make sense? No. Does homosexual marriage make sense? No." He compares Paul's defection to a childish rebellion and expresses conviction that maturity will bring the young man back toward conservative values. With this analysis, Hancock, who is 59, fails to consider a critical fact. He was young and idealistic once, too.
Read Full Report
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Barack Obama described as prophet Moses by bishop
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LONDON DAILY TELEGRAPH [Barclay] > Telegraph Blogs - Posted by Toby Harnden - November 3, 2008
Adulation of the Democratic nominee is building to a crescendo. Offering a prayer before a rally in Columbus, Ohio today, Cornal Garnett Henning, an AME bishop for parts of Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania, compared him to Moses and Martin Luther King in the same breath.
He thanked God for having "given us a Moses and a Martin called Barack Obama" and asked the Almighty to "grant that we together this nation under God may have the will to bring about the change we need" and ensure that "those who cast their sacred vote will not be deprived this right". The McCain campaign, you might remember, mocked Obama as a Moses figure in an ad entitled "the One" in August. ...
Read Full Report
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War on Evangelical Christians Has Begun
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By Dr. David Reagan - January 28, 2009
The Obama Administration has wasted no time in declaring war on Evangelical Christians.
Within minutes after the new President took his oath of office, his staff posted his agendas concerning homosexuality and abortion on the White House website.
Sexual Perversion
With regard to sexual perversion, the President's policy goals are spelled out as follows:
1) Defeat all state and federal constitutional efforts to defend the definition of biblical marriage as being a union between one man and one woman.
2) Repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) signed by Bill Clinton. (This is currently the only line of defense keeping all 50 states from being forced to recognize so-called "same-sex marriages" from extremely liberal states like Massachusetts and Connecticut.)
3) Repeal the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.
4) Pass "hate crimes" legislation granting homosexuals and cross dressers special rights denied to other Americans. (This legislation, depending on how it is drafted, could even attempt to muzzle any criticism of homosexuality as being unbiblical and unnatural perversion.)
5) Pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) which would force business owners (religious and otherwise) to abandon traditional values relative to sexual morality under penalty of law.
6) Create intentionally motherless and fatherless homes by expanding "gay adoption."
To see it for yourself, go to www.whitehouse.gov/agenda/civil_rights/ and scroll down the page to "Support for the LGBT Community." (LGBT is an acronym for "Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered.") Or, just click this link.
Abortion
With regard to abortion, The President's agenda is:
1) Opposition to any constitutional amendment to overturn the Supreme Court's abortion decision in Roe v Wade.
2) Support of the Prevention First Act which would provide access to contraception and "preventive services to help reduce unintended pregnancies" (a euphemism for abortion).
You will find these proposals on the White House website at www.whitehouse.gov/agenda/women.
Although it is not mentioned on the website, the President has made it clear that he will support the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA). In fact, he promised Planned Parenthood that signing the FOCA would be "the first thing I'd do as President." FOCA is by far the most radical piece of abortion legislation ever introduced into the Congress.
According to pro-choice advocates:
FOCA would overturn the ban on the barbaric procedure called "partial-birth abortion."
FOCA would invalidate scores of pro-life laws passed by dozens of states.
FOCA would eliminate existing laws against taxpayer-funded abortions.
Consequences to the Nation
This outrageous attack on biblical morals should come as no surprise to anyone. The American voters were warned time and time again during the presidential campaign that Obama would push the most radical homosexual and abortion agenda in American history. But millions voted for charisma and eloquence rather than paying attention to the issues.
I cannot overemphasize how critical a situation we are facing in this country. We are in the midst of a great financial crisis and we have enemies worldwide who desire to destroy us. I want to see President Obama succeed in solving our financial crisis and defending this nation against Islamic terrorism. But he has literally no hope of succeeding as long as he thumbs his nose at God and God's Word.
In addition to pushing homosexuality, same-sex marriage, and abortion, he has also made it clear that he will demand a division of the land of Israel as part of a "two-state solution." These policies are national suicide.
God cannot be mocked, nor can He be deceived (Galatians 6:7). He will not sit idly by and allow our nation to turn its back on Him and do what we please. We have been blessed more mightily than any other nation in history, and to those to whom much is given, much is expected (Luke 12:47-48).
Call to Prayer
We need to pray as we have never prayed before for our President. We need to pray for his heart to be softened and his ideas to be conformed to God's Word (Proverbs 21:1). And we need to pray that all his efforts to implement policies contrary to God's Word will be confused, frustrated, and defeated.
Note from Jan: David Reagan says it all in his summary although we have not even addressed the so-called "Fairness Doctrine" that would knock programs like "Understanding the Times" off the air.
[Ed. Note: See more on this below and sign a petition under the article 'Fight government censorship!']
A nation is only as strong as its churches are strong. Pray for America, your church, and your pastor.
Note: Dr. David Reagan heads Lamb Lion Ministries.
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| White House promoting 'anti-Christian' policies? |
 ONE NEWS NOW [American Family News Network] - By Jim Brown - January 23, 2009
A leading conservative activist says President Obama has already signaled, during his first days in office, that his administration will be the most "extreme, left-wing, and discriminatory" in American history.
President Obama's plans to cater to the priorities of homosexual activists are laid out under a section called "Civil Rights" on the website WhiteHouse.gov.
The website makes clear Obama's intention to expand federal hate crimes statutes to include extra punishment for crimes that are deemed to be motivated by bias against one's sexual orientation or gender identity. The site also stresses Obama's support for homosexual civil unions and expanded adoption rights for homosexuals, as well as his desire to repeal the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy and the federal Defense of Marriage Act (a.k.a., DOMA).
Matt Barber, director of cultural affairs with Liberty Counsel, believes many Americans will be shocked to find out just how radical some of Obama's positions are on social issues.
"I certainly cannot judge whether or not Barack Obama has a relationship with Christ. That's between him and God, and only they know that. However, scripture tells us that you will be known by your fruits, and here Barack Obama is promoting counter-biblical, anti-Christian policies," he contends. "[These are] policies that elevate deviant sexual behaviors and dangerous sexual behaviors that are destructive spiritually, physically and emotionally, and certainly -- when embraced as Barack Obama has embraced them -- are destructive societally."
Barber adds that "for all the talk of hope, change and coming together, it's becoming abundantly clear that Barack Obama's administration will be the most leftist, divisive, and discriminatory in recent memory."
Original Report |
| Obama lifts ban, will use your tax dollars to pay for abortions around the world |
January 23, 2009
President Obama has lifted a ban on federal funding for international groups that promote or perform abortions, reversing a policy of his predecessor, George W. Bush.
Obama's actions mean that hundreds of millions of your tax dollars will go to help groups like Planned Parenthood perform abortions around the world.
His actions came one day after the 36th anniversary of the landmark Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion in all 50 states.
Please take the action suggested below. It will not cause Obama to reverse his decision, but it will send a notice to him that unborn babies are human and deserve the same rights as the born.
Take Action!
Send an e-mail to Obama asking him to stop funding the killing of unborn children.
After you send the e-mail, please make a phone call (202-456-1414) and leave a message that you strongly disagree with Obama's using tax dollars to fund abortion.
Watch this one minute video.
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Fight government censorship!
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Sign the petition to stop the "Fairness Doctrine"
WORLDNETDAILY - By Joseph Farah - February 4, 2009
I warned you it was coming.
I told you it wasn't a threat but a promise.
And now legislative efforts by the Democrat-dominated Congress are under way to impose what can only be characterized as censorship on the broadcast media in the form of a so-called "Fairness Doctrine."
President Obama says he has plans to "review" the "obligations" of broadcasters. What he means is simple: He wants all the media marching in lockstep with his backward, discredited socialist agenda - and he's willing to ignore constitutional guarantees of freedom of speech and freedom of the press to achieve it.
He sees talk radio as a threat - because it represents open debate and because it challenges his tired old ideas of centralized, command-and-control, unlimited government authority.
He tipped his hand when he denounced Rush Limbaugh as an obstacle to "getting things done" in Washington.
Sometimes it's best not to get things done in Washington - especially when our most precious freedoms are at stake.
The re-introduction of the so-called "Fairness Doctrine" will be disguised in lofty sounding words, such as "encouraging diversity in media ownership" and striving for balance and fairness in the broadcasting content. Don't be fooled.
This idea is about one thing - empowering government and controlling the flow of vital information required by a truly informed citizenry.
The notion of a so-called "Fairness Doctrine" for the media, mandated by government and policed by a system devised by government, should be anathema to every American who understands liberty and the First Amendment. This is not just a threat to broadcasters. It's a threat to the Constitution and every American. This should not even be a matter of controversy - but, unfortunately, it is. We've lived through shameful period in which government regulated broadcast content. When it ended in 1987, we witnessed an explosion of new voices and lively debate. It's time for the American people to show we don't want to go backward.
This is nothing new. We've been there and done that as a nation.
If we don't learn from our mistakes, we'll be doomed to repeat them.
If we let the camel's nose back under the tent this time, we may never be able to get that camel out of our tent again.
That's why I plan to devote a considerable amount of time and energy to killing this threat to our freedom once and for all - this year.
I truly hope you will join me in this effort.
Beginning today, we are launching a petition campaign directed to the Congress of the United States to put members on notice - Republicans and Democrats alike - that we will not accept this kind of legislation because it contravenes the Constitution. Period. End of story.
Please sign it - today.
We need hundreds of thousands signing it to be effective. ...
Read Full Report
See Also:
Is there sinister plot to squelch talk radio?
Despite the absence of any action pending to re-enact the so-called "Fairness Doctrine," congressional Republicans have nonetheless introduced legislation to prevent its passage, insisting that Democrats are advancing a quiet agenda to silence conservative talk radio.
WORLDNETDAILY
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Obama Discusses his Muslim Background in Al Arabiya Interview
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ARUTZ SHEVA (Israeli National News) - By Gil Ronen - January 27, 2009President Barack Obama chose the Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya Arabic satellite TV network for his first formal television interview as president. He cited his Muslim background and Muslim relatives and said that one of his main tasks was to communicate to Muslims "that the Americans are not your enemy." Obama said the U.S. had made mistakes in the past but expressed hope "that the same respect and partnership that America had with the Muslim world as recently as 20 or 30 years ago, there's no reason why we can't restore that." He condemned Iran's threats against Israel, its pursuit of nuclear weapons and support of terrorist organizations, but he added, "It is important for us to be willing to talk to Iran, to express very clearly where our differences are, but where there are potential avenues for progress." Obama called for a new partnership with the Muslim world "based on mutual respect and mutual interest." He talked about growing up in Indonesia, the Muslim world's most populous nation, and noted that he has Muslim relatives. Hamas likes MitchellIn a surprising statement, Hamas group softened their stance against Obama Tuesday. "In the last couple of days there have been a lot of statements [from Obama], some of them very positive, and choosing this George Mitchell as an envoy," said Ahmed Youssef, a senior Hamas official interviewed on the Al-Jazeera news network. "I think there are some positive things we have to count." Mitchell arrived in Egypt on Tuesday for a visit that will also include Israel, the PA, Jordan, Turkey and Saudi Arabia. ... Read Full ReportAlso:Obama: U.S. not your enemyTHE POLITICO [Allbritton Communications Co] - By Ben Smith - January 26, 2009President Barack Obama presented a humble and conciliatory face of America to the Islamic world Monday in the first formal interview since he assumed office, stressing his own Muslim ties and hopes for a Palestinian state, and avoiding a belligerent tone - even when asked if America could "live with" an Iranian nuclear weapon. ... Read Full ReportPresident gives first interview since taking office to Arab TVObama tells Al Arabiya peace talks should resumeFULL TRANSCRIPT from Al Arabiya News Channel
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Obama displayed 'weakness' in Arab TV interview
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ONE NEWS NOW [American Family News Network] - By Chad Groening - January 29, 2009
A Middle East expert says President Barack Obama show ed weakness during a recent interview on an Arab television network.
President Obama granted his first formal television interview since being inaugurated to the Dubai-based Al-Arabiya cable network. The president reportedly granted the interview in order to reach out to Arab leaders who have been wary at best of U.S. efforts to broker a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians.
Brigitte Gabriel is founder and president of ACT! for America and the author of They Must Be Stopped: Why We Must Defeat Radical Islam and How We Can Do It. She says the president conveyed a message that America is weak.
"The mistake that President Obama [made] is not only going on Al-Arabiya, but talking in a way that made the United States look bad by saying to them that America needs to listen instead of always dictating," says Gabriel.
The former broadcast journalist says that sends the "wrong message" to terrorists -- an element she contends truly hates America "no matter how nice we try to appear."
"This sends a message to the radical Islamists...that America is weak, [that] America does not want to fight [and] cannot fight; and [that] this is why we are going to them begging for them to like us."
Gabriel says it also was not wise for Mr. Obama to tell the Arab audience that his administration would press Israel to make hard choices, and that there are Israelis who "will be willing to make sacrifices if the time is appropriate and if there is serious partnership on the other side."
The Palestinians, says Gabriel, have never seriously wanted peace with the Jews.
Original Report
Related:
American Congress for Truth
Southern California Prophecy Conference: Featuring Brigitte Gabriel, Ed Hindson, Don Perkins, Jacob Prasch, David Reagan, Kamal Saleem, Walid Shoebat, & Jay Smith
- Visit the Moriel Online Store under your Country and then choose 'Conferences'
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Obama 'friend': End of Israel 'within reach'
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Activist boasts 'Western support, complicity is starting to crack'
WORLDNETDAILY - By Aaron Klein - January 30, 2009
JERUSALEM - Accusing the Jewish state of "genocide," an anti-Israel Palestinian activist once commended by President Obama has predicted the end of Israel, which, he boasted, is "within reach, in our lifetimes."
In a piece earlier this month titled, "Why Israel won't survive," Ali Abunimah, co-founder of Electronic Intifada, a pro-Palestinian online publication, accused Israel of war crimes and gloated, "Now, the other pillar of Israeli power - Western support and complicity - is starting to crack. We must do all we can to push it over."
"It is Israel as a Zionist state, not Palestine or the Palestinian people, that cannot survive this attempted genocide. Its problem is legitimacy, or rather a profound and irreversible lack of it," wrote Abunimah.
Abunimah previously was described as close to Obama and has introduced the politician at pro-Palestinian events. Referring to a time period in the late 1990s, Abunimah said that "Obama used to be very comfortable speaking up for and being associated with Palestinian rights and opposing the Israeli occupation."
Abunimah was quoted stating Obama was "quite frank that the U.S. needed to be more evenhanded, that it leaned too much toward Israel."
He noted Obama's unusual stance toward Israel, commenting "these were the kind of statements I'd never heard from a U.S. politician who seemed like he was going somewhere, rather than at the end of his career."
In his piece this month, Abunimah blasted Israel's three-week campaign against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, accusing the Israel Defense Forces of "massacr[ing] civilians in the hope that the population would turn against those fighting the occupier."
"The death toll keeps rising as more bodies are pulled from carpet-bombed neighborhoods," Abunimah claimed.
Israel did not carpet-bomb any area in the Gaza Strip. It carried out surgical precision strikes against specific Hamas targets. The IDF regularly warned civilians of incoming attacks with phone calls or text messages. The IDF routinely employed what it terms "roof knocking" - just prior to a targeted bombing, the building in question would receive a telephone call in Arabic warning that the structure was going to be bombed.
Hamas, on the other hand, was widely condemned for utilizing civilians as human shields and storing weapons and military infrastructure in civilian zones, including apartment buildings. ...
Abunimah previously described meeting with Obama at a fundraiser at the home of Columbia University professor Rashid Khalidi, reportedly a former PLO activist.
"[Obama] came with his wife. That's where I had a chance to really talk to him," Abunimah recalled. "It was an intimate setting. He convinced me he was very aware of the issues [and] critical of U.S. bias toward Israel and lack of sensitivity to Arabs. ... He was very supportive of U.S. pressure on Israel. ...
Read Full Report
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Obama 'guarantees' West Bank withdrawal
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WORLDNETDAILY - By Aaron Klein - February 2, 2009
JERUSALEM - The Palestinian Authority received a guarantee from President Obama's administration that understandings reached with Israel during U.S.-backed negotiations while President Bush was in office would be utilized as starting points for current and future talks with the Jewish state, top PA officials told WND. ...
The PA officials, speaking on condition their names be withheld, said they were enthusiastic about the new tone of the White House and about recent meetings with Obama's Mideast envoy, former Democratic Sen. George Mitchell. They said they believe that under Obama the Palestinians can extract from Israel concessions reaching "much further" than during talks held under the previous administration.
"Regarding all understandings achieved between the parties, the Obama administration told us they will give guarantees to carry them out," said a top PA official.
"With Obama, the number of settlers to be removed from the West Bank will much be more important than 60,000," said the PA official, referring to previous negotiations in which Israel expressed a willingness to withdraw from up to 94 percent of the West Bank and move about 60,000 settlers into central settlement blocks closer to Jerusalem. ...
A top source said the PA requested that the Obama administration threaten sanctions against Israel for any new Jewish construction in the West Bank.
The source told WND that Obama is said to favor Israel withdrawing from nearly the entire West Bank. ...
Read Full Report
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Obama hails 'anti-Israel' Arab plan
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Initiative includes massive concessions, erosion of Jewish characterWORLDNETDAILY - By Aaron Klein - January 27, 2009JERUSALEM - Following scores of denials he would trumpet the plan, President Obama today hailed a so-called "Saudi Peace Initiative," which offers normalization of ties with the Jewish state in exchange for extreme Israeli concessions. Defenders of Israel warn the plan would leave the Jewish state with truncated, difficult-to-defend borders and could threaten Israel's Jewish character by compelling it to accept millions of foreign Arabs. WND was first to report last November advisers to then-presidential candidate Obama gave positive reception in meetings with Arab diplomats to the Saudi plan - but the reports were strongly denied by Obama's campaign. Today, in an interview with an Arab television network - his first formal interview as president - Obama trumpeted the Saudi initiative: "Well, here's what I think is important. Look at the proposal that was put forth by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. ... I might not agree with every aspect of the proposal, but it took great courage to put forward something that is as significant as that. I think that there are ideas across the region of how we might pursue peace. I do think that it is impossible for us to think only in terms of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and not think in terms of what's happening with Syria or Iran or Lebanon or Afghanistan and Pakistan." ... Initiative threatens Jewish state The Saudi Initiative, originally proposed by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia in 2002, states that Israel would receive "normal relations" with the Arab world in exchange for a full withdrawal from the entire Gaza Strip, West Bank, Golan Heights and eastern Jerusalem, which includes the Temple Mount. The West Bank contains important Jewish biblical sites and borders central Israeli population centers, while the Golan Heights looks down on Israeli civilian zones and twice was used by Syria to mount ground invasions into the Jewish state. The Saudi plan also demands the imposition of a non-binding U.N. resolution that calls for so-called Palestinian refugees who wish to move inside Israel to be permitted to do so at the "earliest practicable date." Palestinians have long demanded the "right of return" for millions of "refugees," a formula Israeli officials across the political spectrum warn is code for Israel's destruction by flooding the Jewish state with millions of Arabs, thereby changing its demographics. When Arab countries attacked the Jewish state after its creation in 1948, some 725,000 Arabs living within Israel's borders fled or were expelled from the area that became Israel. Also at that time, about 820,000 Jews were expelled from Arab countries or fled following rampant persecution. While most Jewish refugees were absorbed by Israel and other countries, the majority of Palestinian Arabs have been maintained in 59 U.N.-run camps that do not seek to settle its inhabitants elsewhere. There are currently about 4 million Arabs who claim Palestinian refugee status with the U.N., including children and grandchildren of the original fleeing Arabs; Arabs living full-time in Jordan; and Arabs who long ago emigrated throughout the Middle East and to the West. According to Arab sources close to the Saudi Initiative, Arab countries are willing to come to an agreement whereby Israel absorbs about 500,000 "refugees" and reaches a compensation deal with the PA for the remaining millions of Palestinians. Obama advisers back Arab plan Some top Obama current and former advisers have recently endorsed the Arab Initiative. The Times referenced a partisan group of senior foreign policy advisers who urged Obama to give the Arab plan top priority immediately after his election victory, including Lee Hamilton, the former co-chairman of the Iraq Study Group, and Zbigniew Brzezinski, a Democratic former national security adviser. Brent Scowcroft, a Republican former national security adviser, also joined in the appeal. Read Full Report
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Report: Obama Favors Saudi Initiative, Dividing Jerusalem
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ARUTZ SHEVA (Israeli National News) - By Maayana Miskin - November 16, 2008United States President-Elect Barack Obama will support the Saudi Initiative for peace between Israel and Arab nations, the British Sunday Times reported Sunday. Obama told Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, "The Israelis would be crazy not to accept this initiative," according to the Times. The initiative calls on Israel to withdraw completely to its 1949 borders in exchange for normalized relations with Arab League countries. It includes a full retreat from the eastern half of Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount, and from the strategic Golan Heights in northern Israel. The Saudi Plan has won limited support from President Shimon Peres, who says it could be used to launch negotiations. Other senior politicians and defense officials have dismissed the plan, saying it wold compromise Israel's security. ... The plan also calls on Israel to find a solution for the plight of millions of foreign Arabs who claim descent from those who fled Israel during the War of Independence. They are considered refugees by Arab governments and continually have been denied citizenship in their countries of birth. ... Read Full Report
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| Netanyahu: Obama Will Try to Internationalize Jerusalem Sites |
ARUTZ SHEVA (Israeli National News) - By Hana Levi Julian - January 28, 2009
Likud party chairman and Knesset Opposition leader MK Binyamin Netanyahu warned at the Jerusalem Conference Wednesday that the Obama administration and leftist Israeli politicians will try to internationalize holy sites in Jerusalem -- and he vowed to fight the move.
Netanyahu told the audience, "Some politicians are trying to blur the importance of the Temple Mount to the Jewish People by referring to it as the 'Holy Basin.' We, as Jews, know who built the Temple Mount."
The term "Holy Basin" refers to the area of the Temple Mount, the Mount of Olives, Mount Zion and a variety of Christian holy sites which the administration of former U.S. President Bill Clinton recommended be administered under a "special regime."
This raises the issue of who would administer the Temple Mount, since at present the Wakf Islamic Authority controls the site, albeit under Israeli sovereignty. Moreover, the Arab neighborhoods surrounding the Temple Mount, home to tens of thousands of Israeli Arab residents, are also a part of greater Jerusalem, and thereby fall into the same discussion. ...
Read Full Report |
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Obama 'Hits Middle East Ground Running'
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ARUTZ SHEVA (Israeli National News) - By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu - January 23, 2009President Barack Obama has made good on his promise to "hit the ground running," with his new Middle East envoy George C. Mitchell announcing he will visit the region "as soon as possible" to get Palestinian Authority (PA)-Israeli negotiations on track. Aides to Mitchell said he will arrive in the region in less than two weeks. ... "It will be the policy of my administration to actively and aggressively seek a lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians as well as Israel and its Arab neighbors," President Obama said Thursday. He added, "Hamas must end its rocket fire [and] the United States and our partners will support a credible anti-smuggling and interdiction regime so that Hamas cannot rearm." President Obama did not make any references to specific issues that divide Israel and the PA, which immediately criticized him. "The policies are the same," said Ghaith al-Omari, a former adviser to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, but he added that "Obama signaled early engagement and an energetic approach." The new president reiterated the oft-repeated demand that Hamas renounce violence, abide by past agreements and recognize Israel's right to exist. Hamas spokesman Osama Hamdan, based in Beirut, told Al-Jazeera television that the Obama government will fail in the Middle East if it does not change American policies. PA officials are happy with the appointment of Mitchell, who recommended in 2001 that Israel end Jewish development in Judea and Samaria. Mitchell is known for negotiating peace in Northern Ireland and commented that despite the complex situation in the Middle East, "There is no such thing as a conflict that can't be ended." President Obama, during his first visit to the State Department with its new director Hillary Clinton, launched a scathing attack on Hamas, stating that "for years Hamas has launched thousands of rockets at innocent Israeli citizens. No democracy can tolerate such danger to its people." ... Read Full ReportAlso:Solana says George Mitchell as Obama's Mideast envoy is 'good news'EUROPEAN JEWISH PRESS - By Yossi Lempkowicz - January 23, 2009BRUSSELS --- EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana has welcomed as "good news" a report that US President Barack Obama has asked former Senator George Mitchell, who helped broker the 1998 peace deal in Northern Ireland, to become his special Middle East envoy. ... At the end of the Clinton administration, Mitchell, 75, was appointed to lead an international commission to investigate the causes of violence in the Middle East. He released a report in 2001 that called for a freeze on Israeli settlements in the West Bank and a Palestinian crackdown on terrorism. Solana contributed to this report. Mitchell is viewed as a diplomatic heavyweight who may bring more balance to Washington's relationships in the region, the New York Times wrote. "He's neither pro-Israeli nor pro-Palestinian," said Martin Indyk,, a former US ambassador to Israel and an adviser to the Clinton administration. Read Full Report
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Islamic Nations get "Change" from Obama
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Under Obama, `war on terror' catchphrase fadingASSOCIATED PRESS - By Lolita C. Baldor - February 1, 2009WASHINGTON - The "War on Terror" is losing the war of words. The catchphrase burned into the American lexicon hours after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, is fading away, slowly if not deliberately being replaced by a new administration bent on repairing the U.S. image among Muslim nations. Since taking office less than two weeks ago, President Barack Obama has talked broadly of the "enduring struggle against terrorism and extremism." Another time it was an "ongoing struggle." He has pledged to "go after" extremists and "win this fight." There even was an oblique reference to a "twilight struggle" as the U.S. relentlessly pursues those who threaten the country. But only once since his Jan. 20 inauguration has Obama publicly strung those three words together into the explosive phrase that coalesced the country during its most terrifying time and eventually came to define the Bush administration. ... Read Full ReportErdogan wants Obama to redefine terrorism in MideastARAB NEWS - January 30, 2009DAVOS, Switzerland: Turkey's prime minister had a message yesterday for US President Barack Obama: Redefine terror and terrorism in the Middle East and use it as the basis for a new American policy. ... "President Obama must redefine terror and terrorist organizations in the Middle East, and based on this new definition, a new American policy must be deployed in the Middle East," Erdogan told the World Economic Forum here. ... Read Full Report Revealed: the letter Obama team hope will heal Iran riftTHE GUARDIAN [Guardian Media Group, UK] - By Robert Tait and Ewen MacAskill in Washington - January 29, 2009Officials of Barack Obama's administration have drafted a letter to Iran from the president aimed at unfreezing US-Iranian relations and opening the way for face-to-face talks, the Guardian has learned. The US state department has been working on drafts of the letter since Obama was elected on 4 November last year. It is in reply to a lengthy letter of congratulations sent by the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, on 6 November. Diplomats said Obama's letter would be a symbolic gesture to mark a change in tone from the hostile one adopted by the Bush administration, which portrayed Iran as part of an "axis of evil". Read Full ReportEnd Injustice: Muslim Figures Tell ObamaISLAM ONLINE - By IOL Staff - January 22, 2009CAIRO - A galaxy of Muslim scholars thinkers, political activists and academics have penned an open letter to US President Barack Obama urging him to begin his reign by remedying injustices inflicted on Arabs and Muslims for peace to prevail and America to restore its image. "Civilization cannot flourish and peace and security cannot be enjoyed by the world unless justice prevails on the ground and dominates international relations," said the letter, a copy of which was obtained by IslamOnline.net. It listed the injustices that need to be alleviated in order to end hostilities and promote peace in the world. ... Read Full Report
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| Barna breaks down the 'faith' vote |
ONE NEWS NOW [American Family News Network] - By Allie Martin - November 12, 2008
A survey by The Barna Group provides details of how people of faith voted in last week's presidential election.
According to the survey, 88 percent of Evangelicals voted for Senator John McCain, compared to just 11 percent for Senator Barack Obama. However, in general, the survey found that "born-again" Christians chose their candidate based on different criteria than did Evangelicals. Fifty-seven percent of born-again Christians voted for McCain, while 42 percent voted for Obama.
George Barna, founder of the marketing research firm, says among non-white voters, racial identity played a larger role than did religious beliefs and affiliations.
"More than 90 percent of African Americans in this country voted for Senator Obama," he notes. "The thing that surprised us the most was that more than three-quarters of all Hispanics voted for Senator Obama. You compare those huge margins for Senator Obama to the fact that he won only 41 percent of the white vote."
The survey also found that those who were worried about the economy, or those who had been negatively impacted by the economic situation, tended to vote for Obama. "One of the things that we looked at were people who said they had lost 20 percent or more of the value of their retirement funds or 401K funds," Barna explains, "and we found that Senator Obama won that group by a 54-percent to 45-percent margin.
Also, among voters who had a favorable view of Wicca, Senator Obama beat McCain by a 64 percent to 35 percent margin.
Barna defines "born-again Christians" as individuals who have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is still important in their life today, and who also indicated they believe that when they die they will go to heaven because they had confessed their sins and had accepted Christ as their Savior.
"Evangelicals," by Barna's definition, meet all the "born-again" criteria plus seven other conditions -- among them belief that they have a personal responsibility to share their in Christ with non-Christians; belief that Satan exists; and belief that salvation is possible only through grace, not works.
Original Report
Also:
How People of Faith Voted in the 2008 Presidential Race
THE BARNA RESEARCH GROUP - November 11, 2008
With the nation's longest election campaign ever finally completed, and Barack Obama emerging as a 53% to 46% victor over Sen. John McCain, a new election analysis survey by The Barna Group provides the details of how people of faith voted in 2008.
Read Full Report |
| Obama Made Gains Among Younger Evangelical Voters, Data Show |
NEW YORK TIMES [NYTimes Group/Sulzberger] - By Laurie Goodstein - November 7, 2008
President-elect Barack Obama succeeded in chiseling off small but significant chunks of white evangelical voters who have been the foundation of the Republican Party for decades, a close look at voting patterns reveals.
The change reflects a broader shift among religious voters in every category. Mr. Obama made gains among Catholics, Jews and mainline Protestants, compared with the Democratic presidential nominee in 2004, Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts.
But the big question was whether Mr. Obama could appeal to evangelicals - born-again Christians, who make up about a quarter of the electorate and have been largely Republican stalwarts.
Early in the campaign, he mobilized a team led by the Rev. Joshua DuBois, a Pentecostal pastor, who focused on reaching out to politically moderate evangelicals, Catholics and mainline Protestants.
"The Obama campaign really made a decision to target their efforts to moderates," said Mara Vanderslice, founder and director of the Matthew 25 Network, a political action group that ran advertisements on Christian radio for Mr. Obama. "Their plan was never to go after people who'd been voting Republican for 20 years."
"There never was an aggressive outreach effort to white Southern Baptist evangelicals in the South; that wasn't the focus," added Ms. Vanderslice, an evangelical Christian who was Mr. Kerry's director of religious outreach.
Campaign workers contacted individual ministers, even those they knew would not necessarily vote for Mr. Obama, and mailed copies of his speeches on faith and politics to thousands of them.
For some, the campaign arranged meetings or phone calls with Mr. Obama, a first-term senator from Illinois. The goal, organizers said, was to humanize him as a person of genuine faith, so that even those pastors who opposed him would be hesitant to attack him publicly.
The campaign also visited about 10 Christian colleges in swing states, often staging events with Donald Miller, a bestselling author popular with younger evangelicals and an Obama supporter. And campaign workers organized more than 900 "American values house parties," in which Obama supporters invited members of their church to talk politics.
The payoff was both generational and geographic. Mr. Obama doubled his support among young white evangelicals (those ages 18 to 29) compared with Mr. Kerry. The increase was almost the same for white evangelicals ages 30 to 44.
"There is definitely a generational division," said David P. Gushee, professor of Christian ethics at Mercer University and author of "The Future of Faith in American Politics: The Public Witness of the Evangelical Center."
"Young evangelicals," Dr. Gushee said, are "attracted to a broader agenda" beyond abortion and homosexuality, that includes the environment, poverty, human rights and torture. ...
Mr. Obama, a member of the United Church of Christ, a Protestant denomination, managed to increase his share of the Catholic vote by seven percentage points over Mr. Kerry, who is a Catholic. ...
Read Full Report
Also:
Ed. Note: Matthew 25 Network
although having many noble causes is nothing but the social gospel based on
compromised doctrinal truth. True believers and followers of Christ always want
to involve themselves in good works such as these but in no way should such
works ever take precedence that leads to false unity. Real unity is based
solely on Spirit and Truth.
BE/\LERT!
Matthew 25 Network
About:
Christians across the country are answering the Gospel call to care for our neighbor, especially the most vulnerable, in a thousand constructive ways.
We are building hospitals and clinics, feeding the hungry, conserving energy, caring for AIDS orphans, working to free sex slaves, mentoring children, encouraging racial reconciliation, and so much more.
But again and again people on the front lines realize that one bad policy can undo a hundred good initiatives.
That is why it is so important to pay attention to our nation's policies and priorities, and to get involved in the political process to elect the leaders whose decisions affect our nation and our world.
Mission Statement:
The Matthew 25 Network is a community of Christians - Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, Pentecostal, and Evangelical - inspired by the Gospel mandate to put our faith into action to care for our neighbor, especially the most vulnerable.
The election of our public officials, and the politics they stand for, are a reflection of our core values. We believe that those elected to public office carry an important trust, as their decisions have a profound impact on our nation and our world.
We believe that people of faith should actively participate in the political process as an important avenue for social change. We are called by our faith to engage in the world as it is, while we seek after and hope for God's Kingdom.
Therefore, while no elected official will be without flaw, we come together as individuals to support candidates for public office who share the values of the Matthew 25 Network: promoting life with dignity, caring for the least of these, strengthening and supporting families, stewardship of God's Creation, working for peace and justice at home and abroad, and promoting the common good.
Link
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| Conservative Christians reject racism label in Obama vote |
ASSOCIATED PRESS - By Rachel Zoll - November 9, 2008
NEW YORK - According to exit polls, while nonwhite Christians voted overwhelmingly for Barack Obama , most white Christians backed John McCain. Several black clergy claim criticism of Obama by some white Christians over his religious beliefs and support for abortion rights crossed the line. But conservative Christians...including some black preachers...reject that accusation.
"I think in the eagerness to protect the right to life issues, there were some things said, not about that issue, that were not always fair and that were insensitive that need to be rethought," said Bishop T.D. Jakes, a prominent African-American pastor and founder of The Potter's House, a megachurch in Dallas. "I would love to see black and white Christians find common ground, and a deeper understanding of each other's needs."
The Rev. Al Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, the denomination's flagship school, said white evangelicals backed McCain because of his opposition to abortion rights, not because of the race of either candidate.
"White conservative evangelicals, not just in this election, but in many successive cycles, tended to vote on the basis of moral issues," Mohler said. "Those evangelicals will still join in celebrating, very eagerly, that America has elected an African-American president and see it as a cause for celebration and recognize its deep spiritual significance." ...
While white and black Christian conservatives generally share an opposition to abortion rights and gay marriage, they often split over how to end social ills such as poverty and crime.
But the rhetoric this year went beyond the usual differences over worldview, said Derrick W. Hutchins, a leader in the Church of God in Christ. The predominantly African-American group is Pentecostal and one of the largest denomination's in the country.
Hutchins was angered by repeated accusations that he and other black theological conservatives had abandoned their religious beliefs simply to vote for an African-American. The claims came not only from white Christians, but also from some blacks who backed McCain.
"What they did is insult our biblical understanding," said Hutchins, who voted for Obama and has backed Democrats in past presidential elections. "The white religious right-wing determined that if you didn't vote for McCain, you were not meeting a standard of the Bible."
The Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell, an African-American Methodist pastor from Houston, said that some white Christian conservatives had helped fuel false rumors that Obama was Muslim, by questioning whether he was truly Christian and calling his support for abortion rights "demonic" and "diabolical."
Caldwell, an Obama supporter who backed President Bush in the past two elections, said other candidates have diverged dramatically from Christian teachings in their policies and personal lives and have not been maligned as Obama has.
"Some members of the Christian community want to label him as the anti-Christ," said Caldwell. "What has he done to deserve that label, when none of his predecessors are so characterized?"
But Bishop Harry Jackson, an African-American pastor of Hope Christian Church in Washington, D.C., and a McCain supporter, said questions about Obama's more liberal reading of Scripture was fair game. ...
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Muslim-Americans voted for Obama because...
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ONE NEWS NOW [American Family News Network] - By Chad Groening - November 18, 2008
An Arab Christian woman and Middle East expert says she isn't surprised at a recently released report that Barack Obama received 90-percent support from Muslim-American voters in the recent presidential election.
The American Muslim Taskforce on Civil Rights and Elections, or AMT, is an umbrella organization that includes 11 other Islamic groups, including the controversial Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR. Recently they gathered at the National Press Club to report on the electoral preferences of Muslim voters and their level of participation.
AMT commissioned a poll which revealed almost 90 percent of Muslims supported Barack Obama, while only two percent supported John McCain. Brigitte Gabriel is founder and president of ACT! for America and the author of They Must Be Stopped: Why We Must Defeat Radical Islam and How We Can Do It. She says Muslim voters overlooked key differences they had with Obama on social issues -- like abortion and marriage.
"They are willing overlook where he stands on abortion, where he stands on gay marriage and the like because as far as Muslims in America are concerned, they want to advance the cause of Islam in the United States," she contends. "They are not worried how long it's going to take or who's going to help them facilitate it." ...
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Obama's man of faith
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Staff member who found his voice at BU leads religious outreachBOSTON GLOBE [NYTimes Group/Sulzberger] - By Michael Paulson - July 10, 2008... DuBois [Joshua DuBois, Barack Obama's religious affairs director] was born in Bar Harbor, Maine, and spent his first few years in Cambridge, but was raised in Nashville, which he considers his hometown, and then in Xenia, Ohio, where he attended high school. His stepfather is an itinerant minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. He chose BU, he said, because "I wanted to see the world - to go to a bigger city - and BU stuck out as a cosmopolitan campus in the middle of a downtown area." During his vigil on the plaza [See full article], among those who stopped by to talk was Eugene Schneeberg, a fellow student at BU, who invited DuBois to church. "Initially, I was not interested in reintegrating myself in a Christian community, because I figured I knew it all, growing up in the church," DuBois said. "But what I didn't really know was how to have a personal relationship with Jesus." DuBois wound up joining Schneeberg's congregation, Calvary Praise & Worship Center, a tiny evangelical congregation in Cambridge affiliated with the United Pentecostal Council of the Assemblies of God, a small, predominantly African-American denomination. DuBois, although just a teenager, started preaching when the pastor was away and was named an associate pastor. He and Schneeberg also led Bible study at a halfway house, and some days they would walk along Massachusetts Avenue, offering pizza and conversation to homeless folks along the way. ... DuBois graduated cum laude from BU in 2003 with a bachelor's degree in political science. From BU, he went to Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and National Affairs, where he earned a master's degree in public affairs in 2005. He then enrolled in the part-time program at Georgetown University Law School, but he left for the campaign. At the same time, he was quickly garnering experience in politics, as an aide to Representative Rush Holt, Democrat of New Jersey, and then as a fellow in the office of Representative Charles B. Rangel, Democrat of New York. He first encountered Obama on television - DuBois was at a restaurant in Washington when he saw Obama's keynote speech to the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston - and he was struck in particular by one Obama line, "We worship an awesome God in the Blue States." "I had been struggling with whether I should go into ministry or politics, and I felt that God was leading me to find a way to do both, but I didn't know any politician that got that intersection right," DuBois said. "That phrase jarred me." DuBois decided he wanted to work for Obama, then a candidate for the US Senate. He wrote to Obama's campaign manager and got a form rejection. After Obama arrived in Washington, DuBois twice drove to his office but failed to get a job interview. After a third appeal, Obama hired him as a Senate aide. Part of his job was addressing faith issues. Adam Taylor, the senior political director at Sojourners, an evangelical antipoverty organization, said DuBois became "part of a loose network of progressive-minded Christians" who have been meeting in Washington for the past few years. Taylor said that although DuBois grew up in the black church, whose adherents have traditionally voted for Democrats, he has proved deft at reaching out to "parts of the electorate that were almost written off by Democrats for decades, particularly white evangelicals and white Catholics." - - - - Read Full Report
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Israeli Beduins claim link to Obama
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THE JERUSALEM POST [Mirkaei Tikshoret/CanWest] - By JPost.com Staff - November 13, 2008
President-elect Barack Obama made history last week when he became the first African-American to be elected into the White House. He is also the first president with a father who is Muslim. And if all of those precedents weren't enough, now a village in northern Israel claims that the president-elect is also part Beduin, The Times reported on Thursday.
"We wrote a letter to him explaining the family connection." Abdul Rahman Sheikh Abdullah, a 53-year-old local council member and spokesperson for the Beduin village of Bir-al Maksour, told the paper.
According to the report, Abduallah said that it was his 95-year-old mother who spotted the connection. In a video taped by The Times and posted on their website, Abdullah described exactly how their family realized the link to their powerful relative.
"The way we discovered this was when he started appearing on television," he said. "We the Beduin have a special quality, we know who a person is and to which family he belongs, and according to his body movements, we knew that we were related."
"We believe that two-thirds of a boy comes from his uncles on the mother's side," Abduallah continued. "There is a resemblance to his uncles. After we checked these thoughts and after we asked around, we realized that we were related to Obama."
Although Abduallah said he had "official proof" to back up his claim, The Times reported no such proof was produced. However, in the video, he said proof was unnecessary. ...
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Hail King Obama?
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Hail King Obama: President for life
WORLDNETDAILY - By Drew Zahn - January 16, 2009
As Inauguration Day approaches and Barack Obama prepares to assume his first term as president, some in Congress are hoping to make it possible for the Democrat to not only seek a second term in office, but a third and fourth as well.
The U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary is considering a bill that would repeal the Constitution's 22nd Amendment prohibiting a president from being elected to more than two terms in office.
Rep. Jose Serrano, D-N.Y., earlier this month introduced the bill, H. J. Res. 5, which, according to the bill's language, proposes "an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to repeal the twenty-second article of amendment, thereby removing the limitation on the number of terms an individual may serve as President." ...
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Yes we can: Schools, streets renamed for Barack Obama
AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE - January 30, 2009
Good morning, Barack Obama Elementary School!" That is what children attending the former Ludlum Elementary in Hempstead, New York have been hearing ever since the local school district board voted unanimously to change the name to honor the United States' first black president.
Barack Obama took office barely 10 days ago, but already schools and streets are being renamed. In the Hempstead case they didn't even wait until Inauguration Day, re-christening the school back in November -- the first in the nation to do so. ...
In Opa-Locka, a majority-black Miami, Florida suburb of 25,000 people, street signs already reflect a Barack Obama Avenue. The name will be inaugurated on Presidents Day, February 16. ...
St. Louis, Missouri has also named a street after the president, and in Hollywood, Florida residents Thomas and Theresa Smith embarked on a crusade to have a thoroughfare renamed Barack Obama Boulevard. ...
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Barack a hot name for new babies
INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE [NYTimes Group/Sulzberger] - By Jennifer 8. Lee - November 10, 2008
Decontee Williams was so excited by Barack Obama's victory on Tuesday night that she started jumping up and down - and went into labor. Twelve hours later, Barack Jeilah was born at Phoenix Baptist Hospital to Williams and Prince Jeilah. The baby was 8 pounds 9 ounces and had a full head of hair. ...
In the last week, Barack, Obama, Michelle, Malia and Sasha have become inspirations for first and middle names across the United States, according to news reports. But the Obama baby boom has been even more pronounced in Kenya, particularly in Kisumu, an area in the western part of the country where relatives of Obama live.
From Election Day through Saturday afternoon, 43 children born at the Nyanza Provincial Hospital in Kisumu were named after the Obamas, with 23 boys given the first and middle name Barack Obama and 20 girls named Michelle Obama. ...
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Barack Obama as 'Action Man': Japanese toy company makes US President dolls
LONDON DAILY TELEGRAPH [Barclay] - By Claudine Beaumont - January 23, 2009
A Japanese toy maker is cashing in on "Obama mania" with a series of action figures that show the new President wielding guns, swords - and even a lightsaber. ...
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Obama top wise man in Naples nativity figures
REUTERS [Thomson-Reuters] - December 12, 2008
NAPLES - President-elect Barack Obama and his wife Michelle are appearing in Italian nativity scenes this year, alongside the baby Jesus and wise men, according to Naples craftsmen selling figurines in the run-up to Christmas.
The production of handmade figurines for nativity scenes is big business in this southern Italian city and has been for centuries.
But beyond the thousands of angel, sheep, Mary and Joseph figures filling market stalls before Christmas, craftsmen say Obama has become a top seller.
"The ones we are selling the most of are those of Barack Obama, America's new president, along with his wife Michelle," said craftsman Genny Di Virgilio. ...
Beyond Obama, they are also selling figurines of French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni and even Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. ...
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